A/N: This might be my favorite drabble so far, if only because it's fricken' long as heck, yo. Didn't expect this to take up so much space, but you know how these things go. Hope you enjoy!
(I don't own Steven Universe)
Contact
While searching for a new television, Steven and Amethyst come across something a lot more dangerous.
As far as the day looked, it wasn't so bad. That might've been expected to a Gem when they lived on a beach, but Steven thought the sky could've been worse. The last few streaks of sunlight of the day gave the sky a pleasant orange hue, almost glowing with radiance. Just like yesterday, no clouds could be seen from the window of Steven's room, providing him a clear view of the empty landscape before him. He really did appreciate when nature decided to throw away any obstructive curtains. Not a single thing could be found in the sky; no passing planes or even occasional news-chopper tried to take the gray-blobs' places.
So why on Earth wasn't his television working?
Frowning, Steven surveyed the static on the screen with a thoughtful palm on his chin. Despite what the open sunset might've implied, his television couldn't seem to catch any kind of signal. Cycling through the many other channels he didn't bother reading confirmed that it wasn't simply a problem with one specific station; every arbitrary number provided the same boring *ksszzhh* accompanying the same boring specks of black and white. Since he was smart, Steven had turned on his TV before the finale of Crying Breakfast Friends, but accounting for any unscheduled schedule changes would be useless if he couldn't watch at any time. And with each passing minute, it was becoming more and more imperative to fix whatever problem his television had spontaneously decided to throw in his way. Steven hummed, racking his brain for a possible solution, when a sudden *THWACK* resounded off the box's side.
Unperturbed, Steven continued looking at the screen, giving it a couple seconds.
"Any luck?" Amethyst said half-heartedly, shaking her hand. She stepped back a moment to see if her impact had any, well, impact, hoping that the fifth time was the charm. For a brief moment, some degree of color did come back, offering the image of some odd cartoon Steven never bothered watching. Just as his eyes widened, the image left, being replaced by the same drab snow that had just filled the screen. Steven groaned, throwing up his hands in defeat once more and burying his face into his bed.
"Dang, thought we had it that time," his friend said, snapping with a frown. A minor grimace appeared on her features momentarily after, her hand still a little sore from the repeated collisions against the side of the box. Amethyst put an irritated hand (the other one this time) on her hip as Steven muffled "Me too," through his bedsheets. Some quiet seconds passed, then Steven came up for air with a gasp. After his breath, he glared at the static on the television, pointing an accusing finger at the screen. "Why won't you work?" he jabbed, as if the television had gone out of its way to malfunction at precisely this time. Given its normal reliability, Steven thought so. Sighing, he turned towards Amethyst. "You don't think Peridot is trying to put that tower back together again, do you?"
Amethyst, lost in the impressive amount of brown paint adorning her knuckles, looked at Steven. She was about to question what he was referring to before recalling the whole "communication tower" fiasco that happened so long ago. Doubting that Peridot was going to retry anything like that any time soon for a number of reasons, Amethyst shook her head. "Doubt it," she said, still grimacing at the TV. A minor imprint about the size of Amethyst's fist was slowly forming on its side. "Man, this could be bad. I was just getting into the show, too."
"I told you it gets so much better after the first season," Steven lamented. Even more grief fell into his statement when he recalled Amethyst was also eagerly waiting the finale. "That's just when they show all the characters."
Nodding, Amethyst stepped back to take a closer look at the television, absentmindedly turning some knobs in case violence somehow wasn't the answer. Crazy concept, she knew, but she was willing to try anything at this point. The respective menus appeared on the screen above the static in response to the dials, but didn't do much besides distract Amethyst for about a half a second. She thought for a moment, then inquisitively turned back toward's Steven's determined frown. Being himself, he wasn't too successful at being intimidating, but he appeared to stare down the television regardless. Amethyst cataloged his expression for future reference before opening her mouth.
"One last time?" she offered, shrugging. Admittedly, Amethyst probably should've known more about things like TVs after living around them for so long, but to be honest, breaking things apart was more her department rather than putting them back together or fixing them. That was usually left up to Pearl. Steven pondered Amethyst's words, assuming she was referring to a sixth punch against the television. Even he could tell that repeatedly hitting it didn't seem to accomplish much, but he ran out of patience around the fourth strike. With one final groan, Steven thumped his head back into his bed, giving a thumbs-up to Amethyst.
Receiving the okay, Amethyst nodded, now glaring at the device in the same manner Steven had. If it wanted to be stubborn, then Amethyst would follow suit. The Gem cracked her knuckles, reciting the television's last rites in her head, and took a step back.
Steven became a bit confused when nothing occurred following the loud snapping of Amethyst's hand. Just before he raised his head to question what she was doing, a loud *CRACK* resounded in front of him, and the white-noise of television static faded out entirely. Startled by the noise, Steven quickly jumped his head up to see what had just happened. He didn't actually see what happened, but given the way Amethyst was now lying on the ground and the size of the dent in-
"Whoa!" Steven exclaimed, startled again by the interesting angle the top of his television was bent at. Rather than use her fist like the first five times, Amethyst apparently decided that simply hitting the box wasn't enough and instead kicked it. Two boot prints evidenced that she drop-kicked Steven's television in trying to get it to work again. The television now leaned inwards from the side, like a shy bystander skirting around others. No noise came from the box now, the screen filled with empty black. The most to contrast that was the white of the cracks stemming from the screen's glass, not really wanting to conform to the new shape Amethyst had forced onto the television.
After assessing the sizable amount of damage to the television, Steven turned towards Amethyst, who looked like she was doing the same. She appeared to realize that the blackness didn't come from Steven hitting the "off" button on the remote before looking back at him silently. An embarrassed blush now filled her cheeks as she looked about purposefully. "I mean, the static's gone," she muttered, faking disinterest.
Steven inhaled loudly, drawing in a large amount of breath usually preceding a lengthy argument or even shout. Being unsure of which one she was going to receive, Amethyst grimaced, bracing for either inevitability. Then Steven plopped his head down again, deflating in defeat. He didn't say anything, simply exhaling into the cloth over a surprisingly long time. Amethyst didn't make any move to get up from the floor; normally, this would be the part where she ran to avoid consequences, but being interested in what the television had to offer herself, a rare feeling commonly known as guilt kept her from going anywhere.
Now without the constant sound of static filling Steven's room, Amethyst waited for Steven to empty his lungs entirely before getting up with a sigh. She stepped hesitantly towards him, feeling like someone filled her boots with concrete. The worst part was that Steven didn't make any effort to be angry or even upset. Not being able to see his face might've helped, but Amethyst liked to think she's known Steven long enough to read his body language fairly well. Still maintaining the quiet, she sat down next to her defeated friend, taking a brief hesitation to pat his back.
"Uh," she began awkwardly, looking out at the setting sun. Steven wasn't even looking at her and she still couldn't move her eyes to him. "...sorry."
Steven mumbled something incoherent with a wave of his hand, refusing to raise from the sheet's soft surface. Amethyst, not hearing him, bent down a little lower with a confused "What?"
Evidently, Amethyst could read Steven rather well, as he didn't groan or seem to show any kind of blame. Both of which were rather common when breaking someone's things, speaking from Amethyst's experience. Her friend sighed, then planted his hands beside him to lift himself up. He gave Amethyst's apologetic features a patient smirk, shaking his head like the destruction of his television was a necessary evil. "It's alright," Steven admitted with a sigh, now moving to sit on the edge of the bed like Amethyst was. "Guess I watched too much TV, anyways."
Amethyst, noting the pleasant lack of distress in Steven's voice, lightly laughed. "No such thing," she said with comical austerity, thanking whatever powers that might be that Steven was the way he was. Still, she observed the remains of his television with a small frown. It almost felt like murder; she's seen so many shows on that thing, it was practically part of the family. Noting the odd way she managed to get the side of it bend outwards as well as inwards, Amethyst sighed. "Man, I really did a number on that thing, didn't I?"
Steven nodded, looking at the damage alongside her. Maybe the prior hits weakened its side, but managing to do as much damage as Amethyst did seemed almost impossible in just one kick. "Kinda impressive, honestly," Steven admitted, now looking at the TV in a new light.
Amethyst snorted, a smile finding itself on her lips. "Gee, thanks," she said in a mock-flattered tone, rolling her eyes. Over-doing it would probably hide the unexpected amount of actual flattery she found in Steven's simple statement. After making a mental note to write down the exact time and date Steven had called her impressive, Amethyst flopped back onto his bed, looking up at the wooden rafters above her. "Guess you're gonna need a new one, huh?" she said, sprawling her arms out. If she'd known Steven was about to copy her, she would have kept her arms at her sides. Without the warning, though, Steven dropped backwards onto her outstretched arm, copying her position. Steven didn't say anything about that, admitting that a new TV would now be a little appreciated while also looking upwards.
Then, noticing Amethyst's silence, Steven turned his head towards her's, finding her with an odd stare. Odd because, well, yes, she was staring, but also because she was staring at him. Steven looked about for a moment, then opened his mouth to speak. Before any words could leave his mouth, however, Amethyst snapped, like a sudden idea had struck her. "Tell ya what," she said suddenly. Her words seemed almost too fast, but Steven assumed it would've been rude to focus on that. "I think I probably got one in my room. A TV, I mean. Wanna check? If we're fast, we might be able to still catch the show."
Steven blinked before responding, some inexplicable interest being found in Amethyst's expression. "Sure," he said after a pause, sitting back up. As he looked back at the sad remains of the television, Amethyst looked at her arm. Though his contact was brief, it was almost... comfortable. That was probably a little weird, considering the exact positioning. Ignoring it, Amethyst sat back up alongside him, putting her hands on her knees with a slap. "O-kay," she drew out, giving Steven a determined grin. "Shall we?"
Steven nodded dutifully with a matching dutiful hum. "We shall!"
"I forgot how big your room is," Steven said after a whistle, taking in the surroundings. With most of the substance of Amethyst's room consisting of random odds and ends she's collected over a considerable amount of time, Steven imagined the actual room part of her room was a lot smaller than assumed, but it was impressive nontheless. He thought he was a bit of a pack rat when it came to holding onto random junk, but he was downright wasteful compared to Amethyst. As the Gem hummed a prideful agreement, she stretched her back, evidently having a lot more of an understanding about how big the room was and preparing to dive into the depths of it. It only took a few steps to pass from the relatively cleaned area she more-or-less tried to keep in front of the door into the mounds of junk.
"You comin'?" she asked, already forced to take a larger step around the left half of a sofa.
Steven, after making a note of how much balance it must've taken to get the tower of junk before them that high, nodded, following Amethyst's path through various magazines and empty soda cans. He assumed that she would be the best one to know where everything was supposed to be, considering this was her room, but previous escapades through the cavern evidenced otherwise.
"Any idea where you would keep the TVs?" Steven voiced, trying best to follow Amethyst's footsteps. Having about the same shoe size helped. Amethyst made to answer, but abruptly stopped with a yelp when her next step placed her about knee-deep in an unassuming pile of newspaper scraps. Noticing this, Steven moved forwards a tad faster to help her, then tripped over what he assumed to be an old bike lock.
A few moments of colorful language later, Amethyst stepped back to re-evaluate where the most reliable path lay before turning around to see Steven lying motionlessly on the ground, not unlike his earlier defeat on his bed. Sighing, Amethyst carefully made her way back to help him up, starting to understand why Pearl got on her case so often to clean up her room. Before she could put a hand on him, however, Steven threw himself from the ground with a loud gasp. He made no move to actually get up from the ground, now investigating something on the surface in front of him. Amethyst followed his eyes, and saw he was looking at some old disc.
"I was wondering where that went!" he suddenly exclaimed, picking up the shiny copy of "Lonely Blade" he had failed to return so long ago. Unfortunately, the disc had seen better days, having a sizable crack that threatened to break the rest of it in half. Recognizing the disc after a few moments, Amethyst "Ohhhed," recalling the odd movie.
"Yeah, that thing," she downplayed, hoping Steven wouldn't remember who had taken it into her room in the first place. Thankfully, he didn't seem to concern himself with that, being too surprised at actually finding the disc. He made to pocket the item before realizing it would probably work better in one complete piece. It was difficult to tell which side was the bottom, it was so worn away. Tossing the disc away with a sigh, Steven stood back up, nearly cutting his hand on some broken picture frame lacking a picture.
"You really have a lot of stuff in here, Amethyst," he said to the Gem, taking another look around. At first, Amethyst took his words as a compliment; then, realizing that meant a lot more searching to do, took it more as an unfortunate reminder. Not her fault that people made a lot of things. After a bit of a delay Amethyst used to reassess her room, the Gem looked around for the most stable hill of junk; that equated to the one that wobbled the least. She strained her eyes, hoping for some good vantage point that would offer a clearer view of the surroundings. They certainly weren't going to see too much from where they were. As Steven absentmindedly looked for any other rentals that became purchases, Amethyst strode towards a more promising junk pile that had a fair amount of foundation.
Steven, after making a note to avoid the seemingly innocent pile of paper that tricked Amethyst, followed her, sizing up the tower himself. It seemed the most recent, judging by the more modern soft-drinks poking out of the pile, but still had a fair amount of height to it. Amethyst appeared to notice both the pile's height and sodas, taking one of the cans out and peeking at its contents. Since she was the same Gem that routinely ate things like motor oil and silverware, Steven wasn't that surprised when she drank whatever was left in the can before tossing it away. He doubted she even bothered to read the date printed on it before she began scaling the pile.
Following the tin as it bounced off other empty containers (which were in surprising quantity, considering everything outside of them), Steven moved to a more flat area of junk to survey. Most scraps laying around had some degree of various cords or electrical wiring that denoted a television, though further inspection revealed these to be simple remotes and old game-system connections. Nothing in the immediate vicinity seemed to look like a television aside from an odd egg-sized device on the end of a chain, and there was no way Steven was going to watch the greatest television finale to date on a screen he could count the pixels on. He begun looking under some ironically out of place trash-bags before Amethyst called for his attention. Confused by where her voice came from, Steven looked up, finding that Amethyst, among many other things, was rather proficient at climbing.
"How's the weather up there?" Steven jokingly called up to his friend. Though she was only about twenty or so feet up, the random debris falling down onto the other random debris already on the floor was a little noisy. It seemed the pile Amethyst had decided to climb was mostly old drinks and other snacks Steven never heard of, creating a cacophony of clinking that one rarely heard in their lives. Amethyst shrugged indifferently at him, though he could veritably feel the grin on her.
"'S not so bad," she yelled back, taking another look around. There was still a bit of a distance to reach the top of the pile, but it teetered in a more precarious way than usual, meaning Amethyst wasn't about to test it. While looking for any box-shaped object that could hopefully play broad-cast signals, another shiny object caught her eyes. Well, one within her reach caught her eye; there were plenty of shiny objects just laying around. Some of them were even valuable. Amethyst muttered her fortune about finding another one before grabbing another surprisingly clean soda can, making sure the footholds she more-or-less kicked into the junk would stay secure. After a bit more tugging than she would've assumed, the soft drink was ripped free from its confines, almost throwing Amethyst from the spire of garbage.
Just before she was about to enjoy the fruits of her labor, a thought struck Amethyst, and she looked back down at the boy below her. Steven had evidently tried to follow her example, looking for a more advantageous position to scour the room for a TV, but didn't seem to take to climbing as well as she did. To be fair, it's not as though this was the first time she's taken to the top of some tower of trash. Allowing herself another minute or so of watching Steven attempt to climb the neighboring trash pile, she whistled to him again. She then felt a little bad for distracting him the one time he actually managed to get solid ground. At least he didn't appear too miffed about sliding back to the floor once more. Amethyst waved her hand to him, still clutching the drink.
"You want some?" she called, cupping her free hand around her mouth. Steven squinted, trying to discern what she held from a good distance away. Recognizing the color, Steven's eyes widened, a small grin finding itself on his features. He waved back at Amethyst, calling out "Yes!" with a thumb up, though he didn't know if Amethyst could see that much from where she was. Judging by how he could see her raised thumb, he thought so. Steven was about to move to the base of the tower Amethyst had scaled before he heard her shout "Catch!"
Given that Steven was currently looking for the same places Amethyst had used to climb, he was a little slow to look back towards her. Still, he's lived with her long enough to be somewhat used to her abrupt actions, so Steven was a little quicker than most to raise his head. This allowed him a brief view of a gleaming soda can before it struck against his forehead with an interesting *WHACK*, throwing the boy off his balance. If the floor had resembled anything flat, he might've been able to stabilize; however, it was a little obvious that Amethyst's room wasn't flat, so Steven came tumbling to the ground, thankfully not falling on anything too dangerous.
A few moments passed. Steven half-consciously heard the can bounce a few times before rolling to a stop somewhere by his feet. The other thing he heard was a distant apology from Amethyst followed by a large amount of clinking. Groaning, Steven rubbed his head, already feeling a bit of a bruise forming. A heavy thud could be heard somewhere nearby before Amethyst suddenly entered his vision, appearing worried. She asked something, though the words sounded a bit slurred to Steven. He assumed it was the standard "Are you okay?" before humming a yes. According to Amethyst's relieved sigh, that was the right answer. Steven was torn between commenting on how good of an arm she had and thanking her for getting a full soda, and ended up saying "Thanks for the good arm," in complete seriousness.
Amethyst paused at this, some worry returning to her features. "You sure you're alright?" she asked again. He nodded, waving off any concern, though still looked only half-conscious. Blunt head trauma usually did something along those lines, speaking from unfortunate experience. Remembering that there was a soda to be had (not that Steven was going to forget anytime soon) revitalized him enough to bring about the rest of his brain, and he made to get up to the ground before stumbling a fair amount. The amount ended up being enough to warrant help, causing Amethyst to put a cautionary hand on his own for the extra balance. She heard him slur together another gracious "Thanks" as his other hand found her's. Not being the usual one to help meant Amethyst still accidentally allowed a bit more stumbling than intended, though Steven didn't seem all that unappreciative. The boy shook his head one final time in an attempt to clear his head, nearly falling on Amethyst in the process.
The short Gem glanced skeptically at her friend, starting to wish she found an emptier can to give to him. "You're fine," she said with about as much conviction as an indecisive hypocrite. Her statement was more self-reassurance than anything, but Steven didn't appear to notice that, instead nodding his head again. He took a few moments to recuperate, then nodded one final time with a lot more determination than previously. Sensing that evidenced he was actually fine, Amethyst sighed in relief, apologizing again about the lack of a heads-up. She didn't intend to peg the can so hard at him, though gravity had other plans. Simply dropping it could've been enough.
Steven still made no effort to be remotely upset at Amethyst (something she considered to be one of his best personality traits, among a few others), instead grinning and finding an interesting amount of humor in the situation. "Death by soda isn't the worst way to go," he said with a shrug. After a moment, Amethyst shrugged similarly, having some difficulty listing the downsides. Both of the Gems laughed, already forgetting about how they were going to explain Steven's oddly shaped bruise to Pearl. Maybe that was a little weird (the laughing, not the explanation), but that didn't make it any less enjoyable.
After a good amount of chuckling, Steven quieted, still looking at Amethyst with a bit of a persistent grin. She wore a similar one, though her expression was suddenly directed downwards before beginning to fade. Confused, Steven followed her eyes, and found his hands still grasping her's, and vice versa. The fact that their initial contact had an obvious purpose was probably why its continuity felt a little more out of place. The "out of place" feeling wasn't helped when Steven discovered he didn't really want to let go. Recognizing that was a little weirder still, he told himself to let go, then promptly didn't. He, alongside Amethyst if his peripheral vision wasn't fooling him, simply stared at both of their hands in some odd pause. Almost a hesitation.
"Soda!" Steven exclaimed suddenly to disperse the awkwardness of removing his grasp so abruptly. Amethyst, startled regardless if he had said something or not, jumped, then followed his purposeful steps towards the can without bothering to move herself. He moved with an odd stiffness, though Amethyst was too busy trying to figure herself out to try and figure her friend out. Steven, forcing a smile on his features, nearly stomped towards the drink that dropped him in the first place and bent down to inspect it. Any information about it was received well after his eyes met its side, the last bits of inexplicable apprehension trickling away slowly. At least the soda appeared to be one of the more favorable flavors, making it easier to distract Steven from something as simple as his friend's hands. The young Gem forced himself to speak, as though it would solidify the fact that it was completely normal to touch Amethyst (which it was definitely supposed to be). "Orange? Nice!"
Reaching towards the drink, Steven heard (or rather, felt) Amethyst approach. Before Steven could turn back to her, triumphantly holding her gift in hand, something fell on the drink. All Steven could see was some black thing before the drink seemed to disappear before his very eyes, gone in a barely recognizable flash. Up into thin air. Now staring at the nearby junk that it might've been pulled into, Steven heard Amethyst's footfalls stop a bit further than normal, the Gem holding some kind of disconcerting silence. He didn't pay it much mind, too busy looking at the spot where a soda can just was.
"That was... weird," he said to himself, unsure of what response was usually applied in this situation. Not many things tended to disappear so suddenly, and with Amethyst being right behind him, he doubted she swiped it before his own eyes. Given that awkward pause the two shared, that was even less likely. Amethyst was evidently aware of the pause, audibly fidgeting in a way usually deemed uncomfortably.
"Well, y'know," she uncertainly began, assuming Steven's words were concerned with that hesitation rather than the sudden disappearance of the soda can. What he said certainly fit the situation. "I was just- tryin' to help you up. Didn't, uh, mean to-"
Steven, only half-consciously hearing his friend, waved absentmindedly behind him, saying he wasn't talking about that. Normally, he might've, but he was a bit preoccupied at the moment. Still staring at the place he assumed his drink was taken, Steven cautiously stepped towards the junk pile, feeling someone else's presence. Beyond Amethyst's, he meant. After a moment, Amethyst noticed he wasn't weirded out by her own grasp (or, at the very least, he refused to acknowledge how atypically odd it was) and followed him carefully. She was a bit hesitant to speak, but took to his example and ignored the small ordeal for the time being.
"What is it?" the violet Gem asked, trying to peak around Steven to see what he was so suddenly interested in. From the way he was walking, Steven looked like he was trying to get a closer look at an animal without startling it. His apparent avoidance of stepping on anything noisy contributed, as did the abrupt way he took to a hushed tone.
"We got the slinker already, right?" he questioned quietly, still not daring to take his eyes off the unassuming junk mound before the both of them. Amethyst, having forgot about that odd Gem creature from so long ago, was a bit slow to recall it, though Steven's cautious nature helped jog her memory. As did their surroundings. She nodded, stating that the thing ought to be floating in a bubble not too far off. Unfortunately, Steven seemed to be acting otherwise, stepping with a wariness that could rarely be found with the boy. It didn't help to abate the new kind of tense feeling felt in the air. Amethyst begun getting a similar impression about feeling something else's presence, and strode with Steven's slow pace. On the surface, nothing looked too out of the ordinary; just more of the old junk that populated the room's majority. It was the fact that the pile of junk was large enough to hide something within it that was unnerving.
Now within touching distance, Steven stopped, still eyeing the pile like it was about to spring up. Amethyst didn't think that was too unusual. For a few moments, both the Gems stood, waiting for whatever was within that pile to make the first move. It didn't, being about as inactive as a pile of garbage could be assumed to be. Then, as if mentally prodded by both of their stares, an orange liquid slowly seeped from the mound.
Steven moved his stare from the pile to the shiny substance. "...guess it likes soda t-"
Without warning, the pile exploded upwards, some undefinable force turning the junk into shrapnel. Steven raised up his arms to shield his eyes, instinctively jumping back a small distance. Whatever resided within the remnants of garbage had made a rather large show of its existence before retreating further back into the room, an unrecognizable blur of black. Understanding that he was fine, Steven quickly dropped his arms to get a glimpse of the creature, not paying much mind to the falling junk around them. All he could witness was the brief glint of light likely reflecting off the Gem of the sudden infestation. A thought occurred to him, and Steven turned his head back towards Amethyst, finding her more than a bit surprised at the unexpected guest.
"Are you okay?" he asked his friend, about instantly. She nodded, still looking at where the mound of junk was just a second ago. How long had that thing been there? The last time Amethyst was in her room (coincidentally, alongside Steven then, too) wasn't that long ago, meaning the Gem had to have been rather recent. Or maybe Amethyst just never noticed it. Having ample hiding spots within the junk in her room made the latter more realistic, though it was still a little insulting to her pride to think something with such a diametric view of the word subtle could stay hidden for any length of time. Eventually, Amethyst realized that they should probably deal with the creature rather than let it roam freely, assuming she wanted her room back. Trust her, she did.
Steven apparently thought likewise, looking back at the escape route that had been forcibly cut into the junk of Amethyst's room. It wasn't too clean of a cut. A new kind of determination was worn on his features; a rare sight, but kind of a good look for him in all honesty. Amethyst briefly thought how much of a shame it was how often Steven refused to revert to seriousness before he spoke up.
"We're gonna have to deal with that," he admitted through a drawn out sigh, a lot more accepting of responsibility than Amethyst was. A few moments passed as the last bits of junk knocked up into the air fell back down with their respective *clinks* and *dinks*. Amethyst, pretending to be distracted by the falling objects around her, eventually sighed herself, understanding Steven was right regardless of whether or not they cared about Amethyst's room enough. Considering how they were currently going to need something within it, dealing with that Gem creature was a bit more important at the moment.
"Guess so," Amethyst shrugged, trying to get in the "serious" mindset of a mission. With only Steven in the immediate vicinity, that was a bit of a tall order for Amethyst. Then again, being near him made seriousness a rare commodity; the fact that Pearl and Garnet were near the two was usually irrelevant, anyways. Still, she attempted to copy Steven's austerity, noted how it was usually the other way around, and put her hair into that shorter ponytail that usually accompanied those "serious" missions. Amethyst muttered how they just wanted a stinking TV before feeling Steven's gaze on her.
Whatever attempt to be serious was gone on his features, as he now looked at her with a kind of blank expression. Not much could be identified, though the way his eyes were fixated on her seemed a bit out of the ordinary. As would be expected, Amethyst gave Steven a few moments to explain himself before prompting him to do so.
"What?" she questioned, eyebrow raised. "Something on my face?"
After another few moments of Steven staring in silence, he shook his head. Though it could've been interpreted as an answer, Amethyst felt like it was more of an effort to clear his head than anything else. Judging by the quick "nah" that came after, she read him fairly well. Steven returned to the abrupt mission the Gems found themselves in, but not before explaining in a tone quieter than usual.
"Just a good look for you, is all," he nearly muttered, now facing back towards where the Gem was. He didn't give Amethyst much opportunity to respond, as though he couldn't really hold a conversation about her aesthetics. Steven was already thought of as a nice person (to put it bluntly) so Amethyst shouldn't have been too surprised by his compliment. The keyword was shouldn't. Amethyst was a bit surprised regardless, an apparent warmth being felt on her face. She gave her friend a lingering look, not really sure how to respond. A brash "I know it is" would probably be the most characteristic, but forming that response felt a little more difficult than usual at the moment. As a result, Amethyst wound up asking "What's that s'posed to mean?" with a rather obvious smile. Hopefully her small laugh was a little less obvious.
Following Steven as he found the clearest path that their target had taken, Amethyst gave him another few moments to respond. She didn't get the idea he was hesitating; more like he was mulling over his answer. His accompanying hum confirmed Amethyst's assumption. He turned back to her suddenly, now having a smile similar in caliber to her own.
"Exactly that, I'd say," he explained, offering a hand to lead her over the trash he didn't have too much trouble clearing. Amethyst looked at the open palm for a moment. A few quiet seconds passed, then Amethyst took it with a shake of her head. A bit of a grin, too, but the subsequent laugh could probably suffice on its own. She didn't make too much of a deal about stepping over what couldn't have been more than a foot of miscellaneous junk, instead pooling her efforts towards appreciating her friend. In all honesty, it was more natural than forced. All Amethyst said was a quick "Thanks," to his minor compliment, making a mental note to keep her hair up more often. This thought was placed next to the note of Steven calling her impressive earlier. Now grasping his hand tightly, Amethyst followed after Steven, hoping that they wouldn't have an excuse to let go for a while.
Unfortunately for... whatever reason Amethyst had to enjoy her friend's grasp so thoroughly, the Gem creature didn't decide to go too far. Finding it was a fairly easy task; much like its initial show of existence, the creature didn't make much of an effort to cover its tracks. The path it took was swept nearly clean, meaning Steven and Amethyst didn't have to worry about more uneven terrain or obtrusive junk. That made their shared contact just a little more noticeable, though neither mentioned it. All Amethyst had was about a minute or two to herself to wonder how something as simple as a hand could induce so much of a grin before Steven stopped, straining his eyes just a tad.
"Hold on," he said, now crouching down low. Not seeing their target herself, Amethyst was a little hesitant to follow his example, but trusted him enough to do so. She assumed he could feel its presence more than she could, given how her brain was currently a little distracted. The culprit of her distraction looked around cautiously, still making no effort to relax his hand. After a few turns of his head, Steven's back suddenly straightened.
"There." Steven pointed to one of the many junk piles of Amethyst's room, though it didn't appear to be worth much more inspection. The fact that it lay a little behind them confused her as well; she would've assumed the Gem was at the end of the trail that it cut into her room. Further inspection revealed that the mound Steven indicated was a little different than the rest, albeit subtly. A small hole could be seen in the pile, the displaced junk laying next to it. Evidently, the Gem had taken to hiding once more; however, now that they knew it existed in the first place, Steven could identify its location with a little more ease. The boy grinned, looking back at Amethyst's impressed expression.
"Good eye, Holmes," she complimented, now focusing on the Gem's hideout to avoid any further surprises. Steven, after the obligatory bow of thanks, did the same, slowly approaching the mound. Amethyst followed after him, noting how neither of them really had a plan of attack. Being one to usually wing it, Amethyst was fine with that. Steven apparently took after her in that regard, simply summoning his shield with no real flourish or emphasis. Realizing a weapon would likely be useful, Amethyst pulled out her own with her free hand, the other still clutching Steven's. Both Gems stepped closer and closer towards the pile, the occasional crunch underfoot amplified by both the quiet and the tense sensation in the air.
Standing before the pile, Steven glanced at Amethyst one final time, his grip tightening for just a moment. Amethyst reciprocated, nodding with a determined expression. If the creature was as large as the junk before them, then, theoretically, it wouldn't be too much of a challenge. However, Amethyst didn't want to risk underestimating the target. Steven, after a preparatory count to three, raised his shield. Then, with an obligatory grunt of exertion, swept as much of the junk aside as he could in one strike.
Amethyst wasn't given much time to react; just a second after the junk was cleared, a blur of black swept upwards, knocking away Steven and tearing his grasp from Amethyst. Startled, she yelled his name, then barely managed to dodge another swipe of black. She stumbled for a bit, trying to regain her footing and make sure Steven was okay at the same time. The Gem forced otherwise, launching another attack with surprising speed. A distant "I'm okay!" allowed Amethyst enough time to jump back defensively, though she could still feel the sharp sting of the Gem's contact. Angered by the creature for hitting Steven anyways (as well as removing his grasp) Amethyst lashed back with her whip, not quite sure what she was aiming for. Despite lacking a target, she managed to cut into the jet-black material that appeared to serve as the Gem's body. It wasn't too perturbed, following up with another lash. Amethyst jumped back again, now attempting to gauge the creature.
The first thing she noticed was that it was dark; nearly a shadow. While that could explain how the Gem hid so easily before, the size of it contradicted that evidence, nearly towering over Amethyst's less-than impressive height. Maybe it was the lanky nature of its limbs that made it easier to hide. Amethyst noted the odd asymmetry of the Gem before rolling to the side to avoid a sudden haircut. The sound of a heavy *thud* drew her eyes beside her, and she saw Steven stumble back to the ground next to her. She was about to state her relief at how he was still okay before forcefully pushing his head down, ducking underneath another swipe from the Gem.
"Thanks," Steven quickly said, "And that Gem's definitely corrupted." Considering how disproportionate the Gem was, with its neck being about as long as its three other arms, Amethyst was tempted to give a sarcastic comment. Steven made a mental note on the location of its Gem, that being on the sharp protrusion that could likely be defined as a head, and turned back to Amethyst with that same determined expression from before. "Ready?"
Amethyst, hearing the creature hiss, nodded, clutching her whip tightly. Steven hummed in acknowledgement before jumping into a sprint towards the creature, Amethyst alongside him. The two fell into a slide just before reaching the Gem, ducking underneath another swipe of the Gem while Steven raised his shield to block a crushing blow. Amethyst didn't let the loud *thrum* resounding off the shield get to her, leaping back to her feet and slashing sideways.
Though her aim was directed at the vital-looking neck of the creature, misjudging its height caused her whip to lash across the small epicenter of its body. Enough damage was done regardless, causing the Gem to hiss in pain. Steven took advantage of its distracted state to jump off the ground himself, attempting to use his floating ability effectively.
Thankfully, practicing in secret paid off, as he now hung suspended in the air far longer than physics usually dictated. The corrupted Gem appeared surprised by this, though still attempted another swipe at him, taking off a sandal. Amethyst, noticing how the Gem was currently distracted, took a moment to aim her next strike before cracking her whip across the creature's legs. Another loud hiss of pain resounded from the sizable cuts, and the Gem clutched both hands together to bring them down on Amethyst. The slippery surface of an unread magazine made moving in time nearly impossible, but Steven thankfully saw the Gem's attack in advance before throwing his shield with as much strength as he could muster. The weapon cut into one of the raised arms; or rather, through.
One of the creature's misshapen hands floated in the air for a brief moment before dissipating into an odd black smoke. Everyone, including the Gem as well as its attackers, stared at the area where a hand used to be. The corruption turned towards Steven, who was still floating in the air. Eyes wide, he shrugged at the Gem.
"Sorry?"
With a much louder and angrier hiss than previously, the creature turned towards Steven and threw one of its remaining hands around his ankles. Steven yelped at the cool touch of the creature before feeling a sudden increase in weight. Apparently, the corrupted Gem wasn't expecting gravity to function so suddenly on him either, meaning he fell on the ground rather than being slammed into it. It hurt regardless. Realizing it was still holding onto him, the Gem made to raise Steven back up before a whip wrapped itself around its leg.
Amethyst pulled as hard as she could, yelling at the creature to let go of her Steven in a tone more flatteringly angry than usual. Unfortunately, the Gem only stumbled rather than being knocked back to the ground, though it still gave Steven enough time to summon another shield and slam it into the thinner bit that he assumed was a wrist. The shield didn't cut through entirely this time, but it was enough to break the creature's grasp.
Now furious, the Gem hissed into the air, whipping around towards Amethyst with its arm splayed out. Amethyst supposed that mathematically, she was bound to get hit eventually before the hand slammed into her side, throwing her into another nearby trash pile. She wasn't given Steven's luxury of being knocked into a pile that consisted of mostly old beanbags and ruined carnival prizes, instead landing in a mound of old furniture and books. Hardcovers.
Amethyst rolled to the ground with a cough, clutching the arm that absorbed most of the impact. Steven yelled her name, swiftly scrambling up and running towards her. The Gem attempted to stop his movement, slamming its damaged arm in front of him, though he vaulted over it without much thought.
Thank goodness, Amethyst didn't appear to suffer anything too fatal. Steven didn't enjoy being able to tell the corrupted Gem was strong from its damage anyways, a fair amount of cuts being etched into her bare arms from where the sharper edges of junk had been forced into her skin. Steven frowned in concern, half-consciously raising his shield to prevent another strike from the creature.
"Still okay?" he asked, a blatant worry in his voice. After another cough, Amethyst gave a half-hearted thumbs up, telling him "Never better." Her eyes grew wide for a moment before she used a trickle of her strength to hurl herself at Steven, knocking them both to the ground as a swipe barely cleared her hair.
"If I give you another stupid soda, will you stop!?" she yelled at the Gem, still on top of Steven. As if considering her answer, the Gem hesitated for a moment, not making any indications of attacking. Steven looked at it, perplexed. Being less optimistic than he was made Amethyst realize its intent a lot sooner, and she briskly rolled off of Steven. She used her momentum to throw her whip around the creature's lanky neck just as it made to run, being caught in the nick of time.
Amethyst wrapped the other end of the whip around her leg before stomping on the cord, digging her boot into the ground as deep as possible. Still clutching the whip's handle for good measure, she turned back to Steven, who scrambled back to a standing position.
"Wanna deal with that thing please?!" she exclaimed; not that she was angry at Steven, but keeping the Gem from going anywhere was a difficult task when she likely weighed less than half of it.
Steven gave about five more confirmations than necessary before running back at the creature, ignoring the burning in his legs. Though it might've been a bit more intimidating when the creature was hissing so noisily, Steven jumped back up at it anyways, hoping to harness that floating ability once more. The Gem thrashed as much as it could, trying to grab at the whip and tear it, before feeling another weight much higher on its neck, nearly at its head. Steven held on to the Gem tightly, chastising himself for still being a little lower than intended. With time being of the essence, Steven wasted none of it in shimmying up towards the creature's neck, his gaze fixated on the dark crimson jewel at its apex.
After another fair amount of thrashing, the Gem seemed to realize his intent, suddenly stopping. Amethyst frowned in confusion at the sudden relaxation felt in her whip before the creature threw itself forward with all of its might, tearing the whip from Amethyst's hands. It being wrapped around her leg, Amethyst wasn't too surprised (well, not any more surprised than the sudden loss of her whip) when her leg was thrown out from underneath her. Thankfully, she wasn't taken with the whip, but the way it was forcibly unraveled wasn't exactly pleasant. The creature grabbed hold of her weapon, ignoring Steven's climbing for the moment, and turned rapidly back towards Amethyst before chucking the whip back at her. Steven was intrusive enough that the creature's aim was a little off, causing the weapon to cut through the junk a few feet above her rather than her.
Much as Amethyst would've loved to taunt it, the pain in her leg kept her on the ground rather than standing with a bit of a rude gesture directed towards it. She groaned, stating again that all they wanted was a dumb TV, then heard an unusual creaking above her. Steven surprised himself by being able to hear it above the creature's own constant hissing, and looked towards the noise. Disconcertingly, the pile of junk above Amethyst teetered from the impact of her whip, moving back and forth as if to fall. This would be far less worrying if the mound was made of soft or even light objects. However, Amethyst being slammed into it prior let her know that there wasn't a single soft thing in that pile. Neither was there a light thing. Steven stopped his shambling up the creature's neck for a moment to summon another shield.
"Heads up!" he called to her, though it was a little unnecessary considering she was still lying on the ground. As the top of the junk pile inevitably toppled over, Steven threw his shield as laterally as possible, managing to wedge it in place just above Amethyst. Whether or not she heard him, Amethyst was startled by the impact before a cascade of debris bounced off the shield's surface and harmlessly fell onto the ground surrounding her. As a rain of old drawers and random halves of chairs splintered around her, Amethyst thanked Steven graciously. Then the words caught in her throat as she saw the Gem creature turn its attention back to him, clawing and swiping.
It was scary how instinctively Amethyst got to her feet, the violet Gem instantly breaking into a sprint towards the creature. "What'd I just say 'bout my Steven?" she yelled defiantly. Without much thought, she leaped at the Gem's body, trying to force down as many arms as possible in the mother of all bear hugs. Steven would've appreciated her effort (and her words) if he had the time to. While the creature continuously tried thrashing about, Steven finally made it to its head. He thanked the fact that it lacked much of an actual mouth to avoid any biting, and firmly planted his hands on the red Gem. The creature's hissing somehow grew more agitated and panicked, evidently not being much of a fan about what came next.
Amethyst, eyes shut tight in a brace, held herself as close as possible to the Gem's black body. Then, all the tension and strain she could feel in the excess of arms suddenly ceased as she heard an obvious *POP* above her. For a few moments, the Gem swayed oddly, starting to be taken by gravity. Steven yelled a triumphant "Got it!" either to her or the air itself just as the black body *poofed* into nothing but dust and sparkles.
Not having anything to grasp, Amethyst fell back to the earth below, exhaustion finally taking hold of her muscles. She would've sighed in relief, but the following impact of Steven falling directly on her forced out the air she would've used a lot faster than intended. She could hear Steven try to apologize before he groaned along with her, feeling the fatigue that they had ignored for the better portion of the fight.
After another lengthy exhale, Amethyst more-or-less told him she didn't mind too much, butchering the English language in a way that Pearl would usually lecture. To be fair, speaking coherently was a little low on her priority list. Amethyst rubbed her forehead, swearing that she was going to check every nook and cranny of her room daily from now on. Steven said something along those lines, mentioning Pearl was right.
"You really ought to clean this place," he told her, clutching his own head. "No offense."
Amethyst was too tired to argue, so she nodded apathetically. She would've sighed again, only that Steven was close enough to where doing so would probably be a little rude. More so when Amethyst recalled she wasn't one to regularly brush her teeth. She stared at Steven, beginning to realize the implications of him being as close as he was. Steven, being himself, was a bit slow on the uptake, but eventually realized what she had. Being himself, Steven was also one to simply stare rather than do anything, noting that he could count the amount of inches between them on one hand. Not too long after that, he noted how her hair still managed to stay in a ponytail.
Steven took a moment to blame his hesitation on the soreness of his muscles before scrambling off of Amethyst again, apologizing profusely. Amethyst didn't say anything, still looking at the boy in an odd fashion. He didn't make any attempt to figure out her gaze, turning his own to his hand. Or, more accurately, what lay within it. The red Gem sat in his hand inactively, the seven facets giving Steven seven reflections of his own exhaustion. After a sigh of relief, Steven rose his other hand to it and bubbled the Gem.
"Glad that's over with," he admitted aloud, rubbing one of the scratches the Gem managed to dig into him.
Without any kind of indication or warning, Amethyst was around him, nearly crushing the boy in the second mother of all bear hugs. She squeezed him tightly, nearly laughing.
"We make an awesome team, Universe!" she congratulated the both of them, not paying any mind to the sensitive cuts on her arms. It was worth the hug, and then some, anyways. Steven didn't say much beyond laughing himself, though he physically couldn't do much else. Amethyst, caught up in the mirth of the moment, disregarded things like "reputation" and proceeded to plant a brief kiss on her friend's cheek.
Brief, but still noticeable.
If she was speaking honestly, Amethyst was slow to remove her lips, having recognized her action during it rather than before. Steven was suddenly quiet, as was she. Seeing as how apologizing again would only make the kiss more noticeable, she didn't and remained silent, hoping that her eyes could convey enough. That was irrelevant when she didn't look at Steven, she noted.
As a result, Amethyst hesitantly released her grasp, half-consciously comparing the persistent burning in her arms to the burning on her face. Steven, feeling a fair amount of blood in his cheeks himself, snorted after some time, grinning anyways. Quietly, he got down on one knee, looking back at Amethyst's bashful expression. She was about to question what he was getting at before he spoke up.
"May I?" he inquired, holding a single hand out with the other closed behind his back. Amethyst, understanding his intentions, stared at the open palm for a moment. Being in a "what the heck" kind of mood already, she snorted and humored the boy, giving him a hand.
"Such a gentleman," she said in as much of a posh tone as she could muster. Imitating Garnet before improved the quality, she thought. Steven didn't break character, gently bringing her hand to his lips and giving her a soft kiss himself. Amethyst, turning out to be a worse actor than he was, couldn't help but laugh, pulling her hand away sheepishly. Her blush made no signs of leaving, though she didn't care too much. Hearing her laugh was what finally broke the dam for Steven, and he returned to the mirth the both of them had taken a brief vacation from.
Their chuckling was interrupted by a faint droning noise, and both of them quieted, instinctively searching for its location. They had reason enough to be paranoid. After a few seconds, Amethyst glanced at her hand, and showed it to Steven with an understanding "Oh, right." Steven looked at her knuckles, confused. Then, seeing the lack of wounds around the area he planted his lips on, "ohhed" himself.
"Healing spit," he said with a snap. "I forget about that sometimes." Amethyst agreed, saying that it was more than a little convenient. Out of the ordinary, sure, but considering it was from Steven, the ability was alright in her book. She inspected her hand briskly, then turned back to Steven, who wore an odd grin. Odd because it seemed almost mischievous; Amethyst was usually the mischievous one. The Gem looked at him skeptically, unsure of what he was thinking.
"What-"
"Shower of kisses!" he abruptly exclaimed, jumping back up to a standing position and looking at Amethyst with veritable stars in his eyes. All she could do was look at the cuts adorning her arms and realize what he meant before Steven proceeded to give her, well, a shower of kisses.
It wasn't often she received that much, to put it bluntly, affection, so Amethyst was a bit slow to protest. Steven's carefree laughter didn't help either, nor did the near tickling sensation on her arms. Between that, the inherent sentiment usually attached to his kisses, and Steven's overall ingratiating demeanor, Amethyst was having trouble keeping her chuckling under control. She didn't even bother contemplating how the warmth in her cheeks had quickly overtaken the rest of her face.
"T-that tickles!" she tried letting out between laughs. The Gem felt that she probably should've been telling Steven she'd regenerate naturally anyways, but found her vocal cords surprisingly malfunctioning. The most she could utter was a few syllables beginning as "St-" before being caught up in Steven's jovial endearment. Most of her care was spent on the Gem they just fought anyways, so she crumbled. With a wide smile on her own features, Amethyst playfully put her arms under Steven's as he placed one final smooch on her shoulder.
Steven's laughter turned a bit more forced after a moment as Amethyst promptly tickled him in mock payback.
"Don't feel so good, does it?" she said through another giggle, exacting her revenge. Steven couldn't say much though his chuckling, though appeared to be trying to shake his head as if to say "no." Unsure of whether or not that answered her question, Amethyst continued, utilizing her knowledge of his most vulnerable spots, laughing alongside Steven. He made a small effort to fight back, though it was so small that it was more comical than anything else. Maybe that was his intent; if that was the case, it certainly helped prolong their laughing.
Each of them spasmed in the usual movements that came with tickling. A radiant glow covered each of their cheeks, doing a good job of representing their mutual appreciation. Completely overtaken by the mirth, both Gems gave up on standing up like normal people and allowed themselves to fall to the ground. Amethyst took the brunt of the impact, but even though she was under Steven, he managed to soften the fall, in a way.
It was a fair amount of time until they stopped laughing, the giggles gradually trickling away. Amethyst's last chortles lessened as she wiped a joy-induced tear from the corner of her eye. Unsurprisingly, Steven took a bit longer to stop laughing than his friend had. Amethyst, seeing it as an opportunity to further enjoy the moment, didn't complain, her eyes falling on him with a tooth-filled smile cemented on her face. Steven's grinning expression was similar to hers before he seemed to notice something severe. Amethyst assumed whatever he noticed was severe due to the drastic change of his smile into a surprised expression. Almost startled. Currently, Amethyst couldn't take it too seriously, and asked him, "What're you staring at now?"
Steven didn't say anything, eyes completely transfixed on Amethyst. His stare was definitely out of the ordinary, regardless of whether or not they were laughing a moment ago, though Amethyst wasn't too put off by it.
"Starin' at my hair?" she tried again, getting to the teasing she procrastinated earlier. Now seemed as good a time as ever. Weirdly, Steven didn't appear to think that, barely shaking his head as his eyes stood fixated by something. Something on Amethyst's person, according to how he made no attempt to shift his gaze anywhere else.
All the boy could mutter was a quiet "...uhm..." as he looked at the small cut on Amethyst's lip. Small, but definitely there. A thin, darker line that couldn't have been more than a half of an inch. While Steven probably should've given an explanation to Amethyst, forming such was a little difficult with his mind being as muddled as it was. Amethyst still didn't seem to catch on to what he was so bothered by, now asking if something was wrong in a slightly more serious tone. Steven, unable to answer, looked away for a moment, as if thinking over a difficult decision. Amethyst sat up a little, asking him "What's s'matter?" again to get a clear answer out of him.
A small shift on her shoulder was felt, inciting Amethyst to look towards the contact that brushed her. Then her eyes broadened considerably as she saw a single strap of her tank top resting a bit lower than usual. Lower than she was comfortable with, personally. While she was still covered, Amethyst quickly moved to place the strap back in its proper place. A sudden shift from her friend froze her, and she looked towards him, hoping to any divine power that her attire had not been the source of Steven's stare. All she could say was the stuttering beginning of an apology before Steven shook his head again, this time, more suddenly.
The next second, his lips were on hers. Just the one second; still long enough to be recognized, causing it to be drawn out for considerably longer than one second. Amethyst's eyes expanded about as far as they could reach, her body utterly frozen for that one second as she felt her face nearly burst into flames. Steven pulled back not too long after their initial contact, his face redder than Amethyst had ever seen before.
"There," he said quietly, briskly getting to his feet. His eyes seemed to be directed everywhere but towards Amethyst now, for reasons she felt were a little obvious. Unable to form a real response, Amethyst made no effort to follow after Steven, bringing a shocked hand to her mouth. The most she could identify about Steven was the obvious fidgeting of his hands, though attempting to see anything further was not something she bothered considering. After a rather lengthy pause, Steven only said one other thing; "We can use a band-aid for the other one."
His words being the only thing she could recognize so easily, Amethyst almost questioned what "other one" Steven was referring to before a sudden thought occurred to her. A hand was brought up to her shoulder; not for the fact of how exposed it was, as that was rendered momentarily irrelevant, but rather as a kind of brace for where her hand would move next. Slowly, Amethyst rose her hand to her neck, feeling another cut adorning its surface. It didn't take a scientist to figure out what caused Steven to... continue his affection in the first place, seeing as how Amethyst no longer felt the subtle sting on her mouth. And by logic of proxy...
Though likely impossible, Amethyst could've sworn her face grew even darker. It was a wonder one of her blood vessels hadn't detonated. The only thing she trusted herself to do was hum a nearly inaudible agreement before she rose from the ground shakily. Thank goodness, she remembered to fix her tank top before uncertainly taking a step towards Steven. Exposure wasn't a conversation she fancied, now more than ever. Half of her was tempted to put a hand on Steven's shoulder and discuss the awkwardness like an adult; the other half wanted to forget about the situation entirely for the simple reason of not thinking about what kisses usually meant.
The idea of Amethyst being a mature adult was laughable, to say the least.
As a result, Amethyst sighed as she got up from the ground, still feeling an uncomfortable warmth on her face. Since Steven likely had it worse, she decided complaining about that was a little selfish. She couldn't even tell in which direction she was supposed to step, her mind was so hazy with conflicting emotions. Ultimately, the violet Gem decided another step towards Steven was a step in the right direction.
"Look," she began carefully, "Steven-"
Suddenly, Amethyst's words were cut off by another creaking noise to her right. Still paranoid that another Gem had managed to find itself in her room, she glanced at the noise, as did Steven. The tower that had taken so much abuse from earlier teetered again, though it wasn't nearly as worrying when no one was underneath it. Amethyst glanced at it expectantly, waiting for it to balance itself out. It eventually did, though not in a way either Gem expected. With another defiant creak, the woodwork supporting whatever lay at the top of the mound buckled, causing the object to crash to the floor with a loud *thud*. Steven didn't appear too surprised at first, likely preoccupied with thoughts that didn't need exploring at the moment. Still, he seemed thankful for something to focus on before walking towards whatever fell to the ground.
Without much to do, Amethyst followed, hoping Steven would take after her and refuse to mention the kiss. Not just any kiss, the kiss. Thankfully, Steven made no effort to pour concrete between his friend and himself, instead inspecting the object curiously. Amethyst absentmindedly rubbed her restored arm when she saw Steven's eyes grow wide.
"Here, help me carry this thing," he told Amethyst, waving her over. As long as he wasn't concerned with the past few minutes, she would likely do anything. She strode to the side of the object, investigating it herself. It was odd how box-shaped it was; even more odd was the collection of cables running out the back, as though-
"And this plug," Steven announced to the world (just Amethyst, really), "goes here." With an over-dramatized flourish, Steven put the last cable into his wall, giving power to his new TV. It turned on in an instant, a slew of colorful characters filling the screen. Even better was the clear music of a breakfast-themed jingle emanating from the box. Amethyst whooped in triumph, giving Steven a thumbs-up with a smirk. She motioned for Steven to quickly come over, stating that the show was just starting. Though he could tell that much from the iconic intro, Steven was extremely thankful for his habit to prepare for television in advance.
Steven nearly ran into Amethyst, he dashed to her so fast. She didn't pay much mind to his rush, waving for him to sit as the jingle finished. Crying Breakfast Friends was best enjoyed with someone to watch with, anyways. Steven, internally thinking likewise, fell to the ground in front of Amethyst, who naturally accepted his lean. Having that extra few inches above him allowed Amethyst to watch above his curly hair, to which she was a little grateful for.
Downstairs, Amethyst heard the door open, though didn't pay it much mind. She was too invested in the show to pay much mind beyond what was in front of her. Still, hearing Pearl's voice told her who it was. The tall Gem said the standard greetings, likely returning from some minor mission that she took upon herself. After letting her favorite character finish speaking, Amethyst gave a small "Hey," in return, eyes still fixed on the screen. Steven did the same, though added a brief wave for the sake of politeness.
"Mind getting us a soda?" Amethyst called downstairs, hoping to catch Pearl before she went into her room like she usually did following a mission. She didn't think her request was too much. Thankfully, Pearl obliged, letting Amethyst stay right where she was. Not that Pearl would know, but the violet Gem felt she (as well as Steven) deserved a little downtime to themselves. A few moments passed, and Pearl delivered, bringing two sodas for the both of them. Steven thanked her before turning his attention back to the screen before him, not wanting to miss a second of the finale. Cracking her own soda open, Amethyst heard Pearl state "You're welcome," followed by an off-hand comment on Amethyst looking well before the Gem descended back down the stairs.
For a moment, Amethyst hesitated. Her free hand was brought to her arm, not a single semblance of harm on it. This hand was later brought up to her hair, which still lay in a ponytail, albeit a messy one. She never bothered to fix it, though she also recalled never bothering to remove it, either. Lastly, Amethyst's hand hesitantly reached down under her jaw. A small blush filled her face again as she rubbed the smooth surface of her neck, completely fine.
A/N: Yay! This was my first time writing a sort of "fighting scene" as well as my first time a sort-of kiss-ish kind of scene. I think it went well enough. Dunno for sure, though. Thanks for reading! Have a good day!